I’m just emerging from a black-hole of information on the manufacture, make-up, and end-of-life possibilities of nylon vs hemp. I’m exploring their properties as two possible options to use for the pendants of my new collection.

On the one hand you have nylon which is really strong and durable, looks fantastic and comes in truly magnificent colours. But, it is made using crude oil, requires lots of energy to make it, and produces CO2 emissions and a whole lot of other nasties which you can read about on this terrific blog here.

A fact in its favour is that it can be recycled, but, let’s be honest, the likelihood of people making the effort to recycle their small bit of nylon thread is very low.

Hemp, on the other hand, seems to be the goody-two-shoes of thread! One of its most impressive credentials is that it is “among the oldest industries on the planet, going back more than 10,000 years…” (thanks HIA) Does that blow your mind? It does mine. 10,000 years? That’s what I call sustainable! (by contrast the first bit of nylon was made on the 28th of February, 1935 – and, since it is of the plastic family, we know that every single piece of nylon that has been produced since that day most likely still exists on the planet somewhere. Ick.).

Hemp!

Anyway, I haven’t been able to find out much about the processing of hemp (dying, factory conditions, energy required to convert it from a plant into thread etc), but the fibre itself seems almost infallible. With only 8 natural enemies (out of 100 common pests) it is usually grown without pesticides (less pollution of our water ways and poisoning of the land), has very long fibres (longer and tougher than cotton), and is even good to eat (totally irrelevant to this blog but true none the less). It’s grown in Oz but sent OS for processing as we don’t have the set-up here yet (looks like they’re planning one for Qld some time soon).

The hemp I’m considering purchasing comes from Romania (Romania has a great and long association with hemp – unfortunately 50% of the general population are unhappy with their working conditions so this may mean that it’s made in a factory where conditions aren’t so great, I don’t know this for sure yet). Another brand comes from the USA but as growing hemp there is banned, I’m not sure where the fibre comes from or where or how it is processed.

From a design point of view, hemp’s available in many great colours (which coincidently go very well with the colour scheme in my new collection), and comes in a lovely polished finish. Almost perfect. But it’s so un-cool! (Yes, I am aware of how un-cool using a term like un-cool makes me sound. What evs.) Mention hemp and most will picture a hippy in dust-coloured Hessian-like trousers. Well, people, its time we changed that. The argument for natural fibres is clearly a strong one. From start to finish, their impact on the Earth is much lower.

So caught up in the nylon v hemp battle I almost forgot to address the topic of this blog; I have signed myself up for Plastic-free July. Read more about the awesome folks in WA running this here (you could even sign yourself up!). I’ve no doubt this will be challenging, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes out of it. I like to participate in a bit of extreme behaviour every now and then. The last time I did something similar was the ‘two-dollar a day’ challenge set by the kids at Oaktree. I had to eat on a budget of $2 a day for a week. Think about that for a moment. No coffee (had to go cold turkey) and only the tiniest amount of milk, sugar and salt to prop up my diet of beans, oats, rice and, well, that was pretty much it. But out of that experience I learned how to fit breakfast into my morning routine, broke my dairy addiction and gained an enormous appreciation of how ridiculously hard it must be to have to survive on that amount day-in day-out (important to note that a large percentage of the world’s population have to include medical and general living expenses in their $2 a day budget). So, as I say, bring it on!

In a little beach town called Torquay lives a gorgeous little workshop named Zeally and Cliff. I recently delivered a full-day workshop here and had a delightful day with the ladies who came to learn how to fix and re-create their old jewellery.

Here’s what some of the students had to say about the workshop:

“I learnt some great skills and Emma is a very lovely, relaxed and patient tutor and was generous in sharing her skills. A warm and cosy room” Sarah, Jan Juc.

“Thought [it was] fantastic from start to finish, great, thoroughly enjoyed the day. Emma explained things really well…. it was great to be shown and then do it myself. I was also inspired by what everybody else was making.” Deb, Parkdale.

Zeally and Cliff was a beautiful place to teach; the workshop room was sunny and open, and our host Kathryn is one of the loveliest people you’ll meet. If you’re in the area, I recommend checking them out!

Like this:

Well, it hasn’t even been officially launched yet but our first piece from the new Tucker & Grace collection shone bright under the spotlight while adorning the lovely neck of one Missy Higgins yesterday on a popular morning TV show. The amazingly talented Kate Tucker and I made this piece using 98% recycled materials. We’re pretty proud and we hope you like it too! Each piece in our collection is hand made so no two will ever be the same. And they’re so new they’re not even in the shops yet, but send us an email if you’d like to own one of these beauties for yourself.

As a result, I’ll be spending the next six months in residence at Northcity4 contemporary jewellery studio. While I’m there I’ll be researching and creating a sustainable collection of jewellery with the support of Northcity4 director and tenant, Ali Limb. I’ll also be working with Northcity4 to develop a list of recommendations and an action plan for sustainable improvements to their studio.

I have moved in and am LOVING spending time making jewellery surrounded by other professional jewellers and like-minded people. Here’s some pics of the studio – I haven’t quite got around to making my bench area look pretty yet but you can see it’s in a nice productive mess already.

Northcity4 Studios

Little friends at my bench

The Project Space

Thank you to all the amazing people who generously gave their support!!!

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For our sixth and final workshop at Melbourne Girls Grammar we re-designed reading glasses into new and fabulous Haute Couture pieces using recycled and reclaimed materials. The creators of these fine examples of creativity and resourcefulness are only 12 years old!

If you haven’t yet heard of Do Re Me it’s time to get with the program. The Craft Cubed festival program that is! Do Re Me has created a festival within a festival; ‘Share the Love’ is a celebration of all things crafty with a host of fantastic workshops and creative happenings.

Last Saturday I hosted a bumper four-hour edition of The Treasury at Do Re Me headquarters in Elsternwick. Incorporating a shop and a workshop area, visiting Do Re Me on a grey winter’s afternoon is like walking into a rosewater-frosted cupcake that has just come out of the oven – all warm and tasty, and filled with sweetness and light!

Workshopping designs using old jewellery

These gorgeous pendants were made by an 11 year old who had carefully selected each trinket to represent the person who was to receive the necklace as a gift!